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GNOME Shell 2.29.1 Arrives w/ New Stuff

Phoronix: GNOME Shell 2.29.1 Arrives w/ New Stuff

We are just a few days away from the release of GNOME 2.30 and as such there is a slew of packages being checked in for this final release prior to GNOME 2.32, which will be known as GNOME 3.0 once it arrives in September. GTK+ 2.20 was checked in today along with other GNOME packages now deemed stable, while the GNOME Shell also had its first point release in the 2.29.x series...

What gnome badly needs, is not a 3.0 version, but to fix its present problems

It is not a either/or situation. A major part of GNOME 3.0 changes are platform improvements that swap existing problematic components with newer and better ones (dconf replacing gconf for example) or consolidating libraries (project ridley) that results in fixes that were not introduced before due to compatibility requirements or risk of regressions being too high.

So 3.0 is an attempt to fix present problems as much as introducing new features such as GNOME Shell.

I'm actually really excited about Gnome shell - I was quite skeptical at first looking at the pictures but I tried it in the development version on the next Ubuntu, and I was actually really surprised how usable it is. It does take a bit of getting used to, but it and Mutter are actually really good.

It is a little rough around the edges still but that's an older version than this one, and there's still a long time before it becomes default.

The only major problem I think it has is that for new people, it's hard to see what software you already have on your computer. I think you should still be able to have the existing menus somewhere because it's really good for working out what you have on your system, whereas with the search box, you have to know in advance.

The other thing is the menu on the right side that has the status indicator. I had absolutely no idea that I was supposed to click that to get system preferences and log on/log off/shutdown. It's been a long time when I have wanted to shut down my computer and just had no idea where that option was... System -> Shut Down on the old panel was a little more obvious.

One last thing - it's pretty easy to flick my mouse to the screen edge to get up the activities, but I think it would be heaps better if I could assign a keyboard shortcut like super-space.

Is dconf in for certain?

Originally Posted by RahulSundaram

It is not a either/or situation. A major part of GNOME 3.0 changes are platform improvements that swap existing problematic components with newer and better ones (dconf replacing gconf for example) or consolidating libraries (project ridley) that results in fixes that were not introduced before due to compatibility requirements or risk of regressions being too high.

So 3.0 is an attempt to fix present problems as much as introducing new features such as GNOME Shell.

Last I looked (a week or so ago) there hadn't been a commit since october, IIRC. While dconf is less complicated than gconf, I would be surprised if all the work necessary for 2.32 had been completed by this past october

So 3.0 is an attempt to fix present problems as much as introducing new features such as GNOME Shell.

I find Gnome slow, bugged, and unreliable. Far too often I have to delete all my user .config, .local, .gconf, etc., just to have a workable desktop back. Then there are the usability problems: e.g. in Nautilus tree panel, F2 (rename) does not work and I cannot drag and drop. And, most upsetting, I cannot double-click on the left-top window icon to close the window (a long time requested feature).

Well, I am not going to list all that does not work, but you got the idea.

Now I wonder if the reason for v3 is to fix all this, or, as I read somewhere, introduce a new interface paradigm. I switched from Windows to Linux, when Microsoft dropped the old Explorer desktop and went the Vista way. True that with Linux I have the choice of more desktop managers, but it is nonetheless upsetting having to change again.

I find Gnome slow, bugged, and unreliable. Far too often I have to delete all my user .config, .local, .gconf, etc., just to have a workable desktop back.

What the hell? What distro are you using because either their Gnome install is messed up or you've somehow broken it... In four years of running Gnome I've never had a desktop that wasn't 'workable' and never had to delete any of Gnome's configuration files.

Last I looked (a week or so ago) there hadn't been a commit since october, IIRC. While dconf is less complicated than gconf, I would be surprised if all the work necessary for 2.32 had been completed by this past october

Best/Liam

I think dconf commits is largely irrelevant. dconf is a core layer. GNOME programs are not going to be using it directly but via GSettings. Nobody expects all the work to be done by oct. It is merely a starting point for the next release.